This invention relates to an information display device for camera.
Cameras now on the market are provided with a display device for displaying information such as shutter speed. An example of prior art camera information display devices is comprised of an on-off display switch and a display circuit. In this example, the display circuit is connected to a power supply to display information when the display switch is turned on. With such display device, however, the display switch often fails to be turned off after information check, thereby quickening the exhaustion of a battery. Another example of the display device is comprised of, for example, a self-restoring switch associated with a film-wind lever and a display circuit. According to this display device, however, the switch need be operated for every check of information, and may possibly be depressed from some unexpected cause while a camera is cased and carried, thereby needlessly operating the display circuit.
Moreover, as still another example, there is known a display device which is comprised of a display push switch disposed on an easy-to-handle portion of a camera body, a timer circuit, and a display circuit. In this display device, when the display switch is turned on, the timer circuit connects the display circuit to the power supply for information dispaly for a fixed time. The display device is so constructed that the display circuit may operate for every operation of the display switch, so that the display circuit will operate each time the display switch is unexpectedly turned on while the camera is cased and carried.
In the aforesaid prior art display devices, excessive power consumption attributable to an undesired display circuit operation is not very great when using a pointer display circuit with relatively small current consumption. When using instead of a pointer a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode (LED) which consumes a relatively large current, however, the excessive power consumption would be increased to shorten the life of a battery used.